Family experiences 'roller-coaster' lift ride on way home
When polytechnic student Ang Bing Xuan, 18, returned home with his family after dinner one Sunday evening, they were not expecting the lift ride up to their Housing Board flat to be "like a roller coaster".
The elevator went up and down a few times, before finally stopping at the 14th storey at Block 670 Jalan Damai.
They live a few levels below.
"The lift would suddenly stop and then jerk downwards, and then go up again," said Mr Ang.
He was with his parents and 19-year-old sister during the incident on May 6.
When The Straits Times visited the block yesterday, representatives from the Building And Construction Authority (BCA), HDB, Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) and lift maintenance contractor G9 Elevator were present to inspect the lift.
Residents told ST that both lifts at the HDB block have been intermittently faulty for years. They also faced problems such as the lift door being unable to close fully.
The lifts are managed and maintained by AHTC. They were built by Express Lift, which is no longer registered in Singapore.
AHTC said it responded to a report of a faulty lift on May 6. It was shut down to run tests and became operational on May 8.
Earlier that day, Mr Ang's mother was in the lift when it travelled up and down a few times without opening its doors.
She got out when the door finally opened on the first storey and reported the incident to the town council.
The lift was under repair for a few hours. The Ang family assumed the fault had been rectified when they saw the lift back in operation in the evening.
A day before, another family had a similar experience.
A logistics analyst who wanted to be known only as Ms Goh, 45, said her husband, four-year-old son and 75-year-old father-in-law were in the lift when it suddenly stopped on the third storey.
It then "descended quickly" to the first storey. They also reported the incident to the town council.
AHTC said it is working with BCA to avoid a recurrence of the problem. BCA said it is investigating the matter.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
